3. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today. 今日事，今日毕。 4. Kill two birds with one stone. 一箭双雕/一石二鸟。 5. Haste makes waste. 欲速则不达。
6. Where there’s smoke there’s fire. 无风不起浪。
7. The grass is always greener on the other side of the stone. 这山望着那山高。 8. Beauty is only skin deep. 美貌是肤浅的。
9. Spare the rod and spoil the child. 玉不琢，不成器。
10. Give a person a dose of his own medicine. 以其人之道还治其人之身。
11. Frank’s advice is like good herbal medicine: hard to take, but ultimately beneficial. 良药苦口利于病，忠言逆耳利于行。
12. Even the dog swaggers when its master wins favor. 一人得道，鸡犬升天。 13. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. 鱼与熊掌不可兼得。 14. Speak the devil (and he will appear). 说曹操，曹操到。
15. The same knife cuts bread and fingers. 水能载舟，亦能覆舟。 16. Teach fish to swim. 班门弄斧。
17. Beat the dog before the lion. 杀鸡儆猴。
18. Man proposes, God disposes. 谋事在人，成事在天。
19. Everybody’s business is nobody’s business. 三个和尚无水喝。 20. Many kiss the baby for the nurse’s sake. 醉翁之意不在酒。
21. Don’t count the chicken before they are hatched. 不要盲目乐观。 22. A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit. 吃一堑，长一智。 23. Love me, love my dog. 爱屋及乌。
24. Facts speak louder than words. 事实胜于雄辩。 25. Misfortunes never come alone. 祸不单行。 Case study one
If in the dining hall, a fly was seen in a glass of beer, an Englishman would say, “May I have another, please?”; a Frenchman would pour a beer out; a Spanish man would put the money on the table and leave without a word; a Japanese would summon the manager and criticize, “Do you do all your business like this?”; an Arab would give the beer to the waiter and say, “I’ll buy you a drink.”; and the more humorous American would say to the waiter, “Please serve the fly and beer separately.” Question: What do their different reactions toward a fly in a beer reflect?
Answer: The case above shows that social interactions may vary greatly owing to different cultural backgrounds. In this case, people’s different reactions toward a fly in a beer reveal not only their individual personality but also the orientation of their nation’s mainstream culture, e.g. the English’s seriousness, the French’s arrogance, the Spanish’s generosity, the Japanese’s critical approach, the Arab’s sarcasm and the American’s humor. Case study two
Bart Rapson had brought his family to the Philippines on a job assignment for a multinational corporation. Since the Philippines is largely Catholic, it was easy for Bart to place his 7-year-old daughter in a Sunday school class that would prepare her
for her First Communion(首次领圣餐仪式). As the day approached, Bart planned for an after-church party, inviting colleagues and their families from work.
Manuel, one Filipino colleague, to whom Bart felt especially close, kept putting off an answer to Bart’s invitation, saying neither “yes” or “no”. Finally Bart said, “My wife needs to know how many people to cook for.” Still not giving a yes or no answer, Manuel later called and said that he would be attending a different party that would be attended by other Filipinos.
Bart was quite upset. He complained, “If this is supposedly a Catholic country, why would they not place a value on this? Why would he turn down a once-in-lifetime gathering, my daughter’s First Communion, to go to a party with friends he admits to seeing all the time?” After the party, Bart was merely cordial to Manuel---there were no longer any indications of friendliness. Manuel was puzzled, and had no idea what the problem was.
Question: If you were the director and chosen to mediate (调解) this situation, what would you do to ensure not to offend either party? How would you explain Bart’s behavior to Manuel? How would you explain Manuel’s to Bart?
Answer: For Americans, knowing how many people will attend a gathering is one of the key priorities, as it helps the host to prepare properly. However, to Filipinos, the number of guests is not very important, they usually prepare more food than enough and would not mind if there were leftovers. As well, Filipinos prefer to be together with people they know well. In addition, in the Philippines, the First Communion is not as important as the party that follows. The main problem in this case is Manuel’s ignorance of American customs. He did not realize that Americans pay great attention to important social gatherings, especially when their children are involved. Case three
It is said that in Rome, in front of a shoe store, there was such a sign to attract English-speaking customers: Shoes for street walking. Come in and have a fit. The sign caught the attention of many English-speaking tourists, but not to look at the shoes displayed in the windows, but to read the sign and then break out into laughter.
Question: Why did the Italian shop owner make such a blunder?
Case analysis: The problem resulted from the misunderstanding of the idioms “a street walker” and “to have a fit”. They are almost impossible to understand from the meanings of the individual word. In this case, the Italian shop owner did not realize that “a street walker” means a prostitute, while “to have a fit” does not mean to have a try, but to become suddenly and violently angry or upset. No wonder the amusement and laughter! Case four Mark had recently moved from Denmark to Sydney to work as a salesperson for a large Australian company. After three weeks, he was invited to join a local club. During the first few weeks at the club, Mark would either stand in the corner talking with someone or sit on a sofa listening to other people talk and chat. As time went by, he came to know most of the club members and seemed to enjoy talking with them. One day, at an evening party, one of the female members approached him. Mark
immediately showed his interest by talking about the atmosphere of the party. At first, the conversation between them seemed to go quite smoothly, but as it progressed, the lady seemed to step further and further away from Mark as he had been gradually moving closer to her. The lady obviously seemed uncomfortable. As Mark was about to ask her questions regarding Australian social customs, another man standing nearby directed a glance toward the lady. She excused herself and went to talk with that man, leaving Mark standing alone and wondering why their conversation had come to such a sudden stop.
Question: Why did that woman suddenly stop talking with Mark and turned to another man?
Case analysis: This is a typical case of misunderstanding caused by different perceptions about body distance. There is a lot of evidence to show that body distance varies with different people, different circumstances, and different cultures. In Denmark, at a formal event, the intimate space is usually between 20 to 30 centimeters; while in Australia, such an occasion requires a body distance of 40 to 50 centimeters. Therefore, when a Dane talks with an Australian, the problem arises: the Dane is accustomed to a close distance while the Australian is comfortable with a great distance. In this case, Mark, by trying to establish his normal intimate space, infringed on the Australian lady’s space. Because of this, she felt somewhat threatened and lost her sense of comfort. At that moment, the nearby man offered her the opportunity to excuse herself from Mark. If Mark had had some knowledge about the expected personal space for Australians, the encounter might have been totally different.
Case five
Katherine came to Beijing in 1998 and found a job as an English teacher in a foreign language institute. Soon after her classes began, she found that her students showed no interest in her teaching style. Quite a few of them avoided attending her class. She was feeling quite upset and discouraged so she decided to ask the Director, Prof. Wang, for help. Prof. Wang reviewed his timetable and suggested they meet at ten o’clock on Thursday morning. When Thursday came, Katherine arrived at Prof. Wang’s office at the exactly ten o’clock finding him talking with another teacher in Chinese. Seeing that she had come, Prof. Wang smiled and gestured her to sit down. Katherine sat down and the professor excused himself and continued to talk with the other teacher. After five minutes, he finished his conversation, and apologized to Katherine, and began to focus his attention on her situation. Prof. Wang showed great concern and asked her what the problem was. Just as she was discussing her problem, another Chinese teacher interrupted, with a form that required the Director’s signature. The Director smiled, apologized to Katherine again, and turned to talk with the Chinese teacher in Chinese. Katherine became impatient, and wondered why their discussion should be interrupted since she had made an appointment. Also, she was upset and frustrated that they continued to speak Chinese in front of her. Although their talk continued, she was apparently unhappy about what had happened.
Questions: How would you explain the Director’s behavior toward Katherine? How would you make the Director understand why Katherine felt frustrated and angry? Case analysis: This is a typical cultural clash between Chinese and Westerners. There is a great difference in the concept of appointment and its behavior pattern in different cultures. To Americans, an appointment is a confirmation to meet at a precise time. If an appointment is scheduled, both parties should respect the appointment time. For example, if a professor makes an appointment with a student at a certain time, it should not be interrupted by other things or people. In addition, Westerners are good timekeepers; they adhere strictly to schedules. However, Chinese view appointments in a more flexible manner. They are more casual about commitments. This difference in attitudes toward appointment was the root of Katherine’s unhappiness. Since the Director made a ten o’clock appointment, he should have tried to avoid any interruption. However, when Katherine arrived on time, the Director was still talking with another teacher. When their meeting finally began, it was interrupted again. There is no wonder Katherine became frustrated and angry. Case six In 1987, a delegation consisting of four Chinese English experts went to Pingyong Foreign Language University to train faculty to be top-level simultaneous interpreters for the 13th International Youth Festival. Of the four experts, two were men and two were women. The two men were dressed in suits with ties and the two women were typically dressed in trousers and their typical business clothes. An authority from Pingyong Foreign Language University and two Korean interpreters greeted them at the Pingyong Railway Station. Surprisingly, while exchanging a few formal remarks, the two interpreters’ eyes constantly observed the two Chinese female teachers’ trousers. The younger teacher, sensed something and repeatedly checked their trousers and shoes to see if they were dirty or marked. About half an hour later, they arrived at the hotel where they would be staying during their mission. The two interpreters showed each of them to their rooms to give them an opportunity to freshen up before the formal introductions. In a couple of minutes, the four Chinese teachers gathered in one of the rooms, where the head of the university and the two interpreters introduced themselves further and briefed them on the training program. While talking, the two interpreters seemed to continue to study the two female teachers’ trousers. At first, they thought that the Korean interpreters were too embarrassed to look straight in the eye of a woman. Later this assumption was proved wrong. The four Chinese teachers remained a bit puzzled and didn’t know what was going on…
Question: Why did the two Korean interpreters continue to study the Chinese female teachers’ trousers?
Case analysis: The conflict of the case involves a misunderstanding of what is and is not appropriate clothing to wear in the situation given. In Korea, a woman with social status will generally wear dress or skirt. Very few women wear trousers. Although people might see some women wearing trousers, they are generally common citizens of low social status. It is rare to find women of high social status, e.g. government
officials, wearing trousers. Females in high school or university all wear skirts with few exceptions. The Korean interpreters assumed that the Chinese female college teachers held high social status and should therefore wear skirts. This is why they continued to look at the two Chinese women’s trousers. • Questions and answers: 1. What is culture?
Culture is the total accumulation of beliefs, customs, values, behaviors, institutions and communication patterns that are shared, learned and passed down through the generations in an identifiable group of people. 2. What is communication?
Communication is a process in which people attempt to share their internal states with other people through the use of symbols. 3. What are the functions of communication?
To gather information about others, help fulfill interpersonal needs, establish personal identities, and influence others. 4. What is intercultural communication?
Intercultural communication refers to communication between people from different cultural backgrounds.
5. What are the three basic aspects to communication?
Our individual personality, the culture we operate in, and the physical environment that surrounds us.
6. What are the social functions of compliments?
Creating or reinforcing solidarity, greeting people, expressing thanks or congratulations, encouraging people, softening criticism, starting conversation, or even overcoming embarrassment. 7. What is taboo?
A cultural or religious custom that does not allow people to do, use or talk about a particular thing, as people find it offensive or embarrassing. 8. What does nonverbal communication include?
It includes time language, space language, body language and paralanguage. 9. What is paralanguage?
It refers to the nonverbal voice qualities such as tone, rate, pitch, volume, accents, and laughing, which interrupt or temporarily take the place of the speech and affect the meaning of a message. 10. What is body language?
Body language is a term for communication using body movements or gestures instead of, or in addition to, sounds, verbal language or other communication.
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